Manicuring apparatus



Dec. 17, 1957 B. WEBER ETAL ,Y 2,815,556

MANICURING APPARATUS Filed June 11, 195e .IN V EN TOR.

BERTHA WEBER DONALD NEOLA- United States Patent O MANICURING APPARATUSBertha Weber and Donald Neola, Culver City, Calif.

Application June 11, 1956, Serial No. 590,521

4 Claims. (Cl. 132-75) This invention relates to manicure apparatus andhas as its general object to provide an apparatus which can be used by acustomer, without the assistance of a manicurist, in finishingoperations following a manicure given by the operator, includingcleaning of the nails and cuticle with a cleaning solution utilizing abrushing operation, oiling the finger nails and cuticle; and massagingthe cuticle.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in whichsuch finishing operations may be effected with the palm of the handresting on the apparatus in a fixed position and only the fingers beingmoved.

Further object is to provide such apparatus embody ing separatecontainer wells for cleaning fluid and oil, both positioned directlybeneath the hand when the palm is lixedly supported on the apparatus asabove mentioned.

A further object is to provide such an apparatus wherein scrubbingbrushes and a massaging device are likewise arranged immediately belowthe fingers of the hand and supported when the fixed position of thehand, mentioned above, obtains.

Further object is to provide a manicuring apparatus wherein an annularlip member of soft rubber or equivalent is utilized for the dualfunctions of providing a massaging device and also providing aninclosure wall for the well in which one of the manicuring liquids iscontained.

Fig. l is a plan view o-f a manicure apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof taken on the line 22 ofFig. l;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the apparatus.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, I have shown v therein, as anexample of one form in which the invention may be embodied, a manicuringapparatus including, in general, a body, preferably of molded plasticmaterial, indicated generally at A, a series of brush units, indicatedgenerally at B, and a wall element C of a relatively soft, yieldingmaterial such as synthetic rubber or an equivalent synthetic resinplastic material, which is inset into the body A.

The container body A includes a fiat base portion 5, for resting on atable or other support, a rim wall portion 6, generally of V-shape,defining three sides of a horseshoe shaped basin 7 for cleaning fluid; asloping tail section 8 at its rear end, the rear extremity of which isas high or higher than the rim wall 6 in the lateral portions thereof, adownwardly and inwardly sloping seat 9 being defined by the uppersurface of tail section S; a horizontal seat section 10 at the lowerextremity of sloping seat 9 and extending forwardly into the area ern*braced by basin 7; and a bottom wall 11, forwardly of the seat section10, which provides the bottom for basin 7.

At its forward end, body A embodies al1-extended portion 12 having aperipheral wall 13 and partitions ice 14 collectively defining a seriesof pockets 15 in which bottles of nail polish and the like may beretained.

Inner wall section C comprises a body strip 16 of soft flexiblematerial, having a base flange section 17 inset into a T-slot 18 inbottom section 11 of body A and having at its upper edge a tapered lip19 against which the customer may rub the cuticle for massaging thesame. The T-slot 13 is in undulating form and the lip 19 iscorrespondingly undulating to provide scallops 20 for cradling the nailareas of the fingers during a massaging operation, and thereby engagingsuch nail areas throughout the full width of the fingers.

inner wall section C is of G-shape, with rear ends inset into notches 21in the seat section 10 at the forward corners thereof. Inner wallsection C and the forward wall of seat section 10 thus cooperate todefine a central wall 22 for massaging oil, as Well as providing amassaging lip 19.

Seat section lil is of trapezoidal form in plan, having side walls thatextend diagonally and outwardly to the rear from the notches 21, so asto define a rearwardly projecting arm 23 of basin 7 and providingmaximum volume for basin 7.

The brush element B may comprise three or more sections each including aback 24- that is removably inset into an elongated recess 2S in theinner face of rim Wall section 6, and a series of bristle tufts 26mounted in and projecting from the back section 24.

The invention provides for the removal of the brush sections forreplacement purposes.

The hand of a user is indicated in phantom in Fig. 2 by the brokenlines. The palm of the hand, indicated at 27, is adapted to rest on theseat 10 While the wrist is comfortably supported by the inclined seat 9.The fingers, indicated at 29, are thus supported directly above thebasin 7 and well 22, and may be spread outwardly and forwardly forcontact with bristle tufts 26 or may be brought together, swungrearwardly and dipped into the Well 22, then spread apart slightly tobring the nail areas thereof into contact with massaging lip 19.

In the use of the apparatus, the user may dip ends of lingers into thecleaning solution in basin 7, with the finger tips resting on bottom 11,may then slide the fingers forwardly to bring the nails 30 into contactwith bristle tufts 26. The brush sections are set at an angle, so thatbristle tufts 26 are inclined upwardly and toward the center of theapparatus, and are positioned at a height such that the tips of thebristle tufts will contact the upper extremities of the nails of aperson of normal finger size when the finger tips are resting on bottom11. This facilitates the brushing operation wherein the customer maythen raise the fingers until the tips thereof register with the brushtufts 26 and may then lower the fingers until the finger tips contactthe bottom 11, repeating this operation as many times as desired.

When the nails and cuticle have been sulciently brushed and cleaned,they may be dried and then the fingers may be curled rearwardly andupwardly, lifted over the massaging lip 19, and then dipped into the oilin well 22 while thus curled rearwardly. By sliding them forwardly,fitting them into scallops 20 and raising and lowering the fingers, theuser may massage the cuticle against the massaging lip 19 which yieldssuiiiciently to conform to the o cross sectional contour of the nail andcuticle areas. In this operation the fingers are tilted in upward andforward directions (with the finger tips curled under and projectingrearwardly) so that the cuticle areas may satisfactorily Contact the lip19.

Throughout both operations, the palm and wrist of the hand are restedupon seats 10 and 9 respectively. This not only rests the hand duringthe operation but also positions the hand so that the fingers may bemanipulated in basin 7 and well 22 and against brush element B andmassaging element C respectively, without the necessity for watching theoperation.

We c lairn:

l. In a. manicuring apparatus: a molded body including a base sectionhaving a yportion defining a bottom, a rim section extending around theforward portion of the body and a tail section constituting an extensionof the respective side portions of the rim section at the rear end ofthe body, said tail section providing a supporting rest for a userswrist; an inner wall section of relatively soft yieldable material insetinto said basin section and spaced inwardly from said rim section todefine a C-shaped basin for a treatment liquid; a seat sectionprojecting forwardly from said tail section and providing a seat for thepalm of the hand, said inner wall section being of C.shape and havingrear ends attached and sealed to the forward extremity of said seatsection, said inner wall section and seat section both projectingupwardly from said bottom and cooperatively defining within the embraceof said inner wall section, a well for another treatment liquid, saidinner wall section having at its upper extremity a resilient lip forcuticle massaging and being so spaced radially from said seat as toprovide for proper presentation of the cuticle areas of the fingertipsagainst said massaging lip when the fingers are curled with thefingertips projecting rearwardly over said lips, and so that thefingertips may be shifted from positions dipped into said Well topositions in which the cuticle areas rest against said lips while theusers wrist and palm remain in fixed engagement with said rest and seat.

2. A manicuring apparatus as defined in claim 1, including brush tuftsanchored in said rim section at the forward extremity of said body andprojecting rearwardly over said basin, for brushing of the finger nails.

3. In a manicuring apparatus: a molded body including a base sectionhaving a portion defining a bottom, a rim section extending around theforward portion of the body and a tail section constituting an extensionof the respective side portions of the rim section at the rear end ofthe body, said tail section being inclined upwardly and rearwardly andproviding a supporting rest for a users wrist; an inner wall sectionspaced inwardly from said rim section to define a C-shaped basin for atreatment liquid; a seat section projecting forwardly from said tailsection and providing a seat for the palm of the hand, said inner wallsection being of C-shapc and having rear ends attached and sealed to theforward extremity of said seat section, said inner wall section and seatsec tion both projecting upwardly from said bottom and cooperativelydefining within the embrace of said inner Wall section, a well foranother treatment liquid, said inner wall section having at its upperextremity a resilient lip for cuticle massaging, and being so spacedradially from said seat as to provide for proper presentation of thecuticle areas of the fingertips against said massaging lip when thefingers are curled with the fingertips projecting rearwardly over saidlips, and so that the fingertips may be shifted from positions dippedinto said Well to positions in which the cuticle areas rest against saidlips while the users wrist and palm remain in fixed engagement with saidrest and seat.

4. In a manicuring apparatus: a molded body including a base sectionhaving a portion defining a bottom, a rim section extending around theforward portion of the body and a tail section constituting an extensionof the respective side portions of the rim section at the rear end ofthe body, said tail section being inclined upwardly and rearwardly andproviding a supporting rest for a users wrist; an inner wall sectionspaced inwardly from said rim section to define a C-shaped basin for atreatment liquid; a seat section extending forwardly from said tailsection and providing a horizontal seat for the palm of the hand, saidinner wall section consisting in a strip of relatively soft yieldablematerial having a marginal contour of C-shape and having rear endsattached and sealed to the forward extremity of said seat section and alower margin attached and sealed to said bottom, said inner wall sectionand seat section both projecting upwardly from said bottom andcooperatively defining within the embrace of said inner wall section, awell for another treatment liquid, generally concentric with said basin,and brush tufts anchored in said rim section at the forward extremity ofsaid body and projecting rearwardly over said basin, for brushing of thefinger nails, said inner wall section having an upper edge defining aresilient massaging lip extending along said marginal contour, saidinner wall section and brush tufts being so spaced radially from saidseat and from one another as to provide for proper presentation of thefingernails to said brush tufts when the wrist and palm are engagedagainst said rest and seat respectively with the fingers depending intosaid basin, and for proper presentation of the cuticle areas of thefingertips against said massaging lip when the fingers are curledupwardly and rearwardly from said depending position with the fingertipsinclined rearwardly and downwardly over said lip, while the users wristand palm remain in fixed engagement with said rest and seatrespectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,169,990 Preve Aug. 15, 1939 2,580,981 Webster Ian. 1, 1952 FOREIGNPATENTS 471,858 Canada Mar. 6, 1951

